My blog is about anything that affects my life. I started with food, but I end up sharing characters from my past and my opinions about various topics.

MCKNOTES ON DOGGIE PARKS

About this blog

By Rich McKinney

Rich started writing for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin as music critic for the symphony and opera seasons. Originally from Granite City, IL, he graduated from Simpson College with a degree in music education. In 1984 he received his MA in Music
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Rich started writing for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin as music critic for the symphony and opera seasons. Originally from Granite City, IL, he graduated from Simpson College with a degree in music education. In 1984 he received his MA in Music Education from Truman State. Now retired, Rich enjoyed reading, writing music and short essays. He is the director of Kirksville Community Chorus.

MCKNOTES ON DOGGIE PARKS
I guess I should start by saying I know that Kirksville doesn’t have a doggie park. Well, that’s the point of this segment of my blog. I think we need one. There’s been some talk about the need for such an amenity, but progress has been more favorable for snails or turtles than it has for doggies. I’ve actually visited a few doggie parks and even brought back picture of one in Ottumwa that’s really nice and could serve as a good template. I think the Chamber of Commerce has some interest in this possible project since it would make our town a bit more welcoming for travelers.
This morning I went to Farmers Market, and there were so many doggies there. They were all beautiful and well behaved, but wouldn’t it be nice if there was a place they could go that was more suited to them. I didn’t see a single dog buying tomatoes, or corn on the cob, and they were all on leashes, which is a good thing. In an actual doggie park, there could be so many fun things for them to do. Ottumwa has what is called an agility section in their park. Dogs are encouraged to walk up and down ramps, over the top of platforms, in and out of evenly spaced pipes and even big tubes, through which the they can crawl.
I understand that one objection to a doggie park here is the chain-link fence. Apparently it is not aesthetically pleasing enough for some people. I’ve heard no such objections from any dogs. I don’t think there’s a thing wrong with a chain-link fence. Clearly, a white picket fence would provide a more pleasing tableaux, but I’m not sure it would do as good a job as another option. The white picket fence would also require maintenance not necessary for chain-link fences. There are pre-school lots that are protected by chain-link fences. If they’re good enough for our children, I think they’re fine for our dogs.
I’m not sure how to proceed to insure that there’s some follow up on this idea. Maybe we should start a petition. Perhaps it’s a financial issue, but I think many dog owners would gladly pitch in a donation for such a cause. Surely the city has land that could be used for such a project.
It may be that I’m barking up the wrong tree, so to speak, but I think this is a good idea, and I know of others who think so as well. Most doggies get along with each other. I suppose there would have to be some ground rules that could be posted. Ottumwa has a section for large dogs and another section for small dogs. Such a project would require a minimum of rules. It’s just not that ruff, I mean rough. If you agree with this idea, why not respond with a comment after this article. Think how many thousands of people must be reading my blog.
Of course, I’m being facetious, but it might help to know that a good number of people support such an idea. There are many steps that need to occur before such an idea can come to fruition, but community support is a good place to start for this project.